A surgeon arrives on a remote island, he's supposed to improve lives. Instead he ruins them.
Audio Always announces new investigative podcast series The Surgeon of St Helena, launching today
Following the critically-acclaimed series The Pitcairn Trials, season 2 takes host Luke Jones (pictured above) to another far-flung British Overseas Territory, the island of St Helena.
Combining powerful personal stories with detailed investigative journalism, The Surgeon of St Helena is a compelling examination of trust, power and accountability in one of Britain’s most isolated communities.
St Helena is a remote island in the South Atlantic ocean, famous for two things: it’s where Napoleon died, and is home to the oldest living land animal, Jonathon the tortoise. It’s also where orthopedic surgeon Sergio Villatoro Bran arrived in 2016. The island’s first resident orthopedic surgeon, the island was promised this talented Guatemalan living amongst them would be a great opportunity.
He begins operating on people at an astounding rate. Within five years 15 percent of the island had been under Sergio’s scalpel. But all is not as it seems, join Luke Jones on a story which unpicks a medical scandal centuries in the making. Police tell us their investigation was watered down, victims accuse their own government of corruption, and of obstructing their access to justice.
Across the series, hear first-hand testimony from those whose lives were profoundly affected, from pensioners to children. Luke investigates this extremely remote, sub-tropical British society and tracks down those who control it.
The Surgeon of St Helena launches on 28 June 2026 and will be available wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the award-winning team at Audio Always, The Surgeon Of St Helena joins the Always True Crime network alongside Answers For Claudia, UK True Crime and Project Mind Control.
About Audio Always
Audio Always is an independent production company developing and producing podcasts, radio programmes and audiobooks. We deliver more than 500 hours of audio content each month across a range of genres for listeners worldwide.
Our work includes the weekly podcasts ‘Help I Sexted My Boss’, ‘The Girls Bathroom’, ‘Get A Grip’ and ‘UK True Crime’. We also deliver factual series, with our recent releases ‘Answers For Claudia’, ‘The Pitcairn Trials’ and ‘Carrie Jade Does Not Exist’ all reaching number one in the Apple Podcasts chart.
We also produce daily, weekly and ad hoc radio programmes including Craig Charles for BBC Radio 6 Music, Paddy McGuiness and OJ Borg for BBC Radio 2, Life Hacks for BBC Radio 1 and Selector Radio for The British Council.
Launched in 2012, Audio Always is proudly headquartered at Media City, Manchester with studios in Farringdon, London.
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